Francisco Goya

Francisco Goya's paintings include royal and private portraits, scenes of everyday life, and images of historical upheaval. His court portraits describe clothing and rank while allowing individual faces and gestures to remain distinct. The Family of Charles IV brings this attention to likeness into a large, formally arranged royal group, with differences of pose and dress separating its members. Earlier designs for the royal tapestry works used painted scenes of games, outings, and other social activities, giving decorative commissions a substantial place within his practice. His wartime paintings address violence and its effects on people, while the later Black Paintings were originally made on the walls of his own house. Across these different settings, changes in brushwork, lighting, and the arrangement of figures distinguish public ceremony, observed daily life, and darker narrative imagery.